National Report

From Wire Reports

Published Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Court documents: Teen had called violence shelter

ELDORADO, Texas -- The teenage girl at the center of an investigation into a Texas polygamist compound called a family violence shelter several times in the days before authorities swept the ranch, saying she had been forced into marriage with an older man, fathered his child and was pregnant again, according to court affidavits.

That girl, 16, has still not been accounted for among the more than 400 children removed from the compound this week, though authorities say she may be among them. Her calls are what brought investigators onto the retreat, the records indicate, where they found other young pregnant women and asked a judge for permission to remove children. Texas Child Protective Services officials said they have now removed 416 children from the ranch.

New low for pending home sales in February

WASHINGTON -- Homeowners and investors hunting for any indication that the housing market has bottomed out didn't get it Tuesday, as the latest home sales data from a real estate trade group moved that sign further down the road to recovery.

The National Association of Realtors said pending U.S. home sales fell in February to the lowest reading since the index began in 2001. The trade group's seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes fell to 84.6 from January's upwardly revised reading of 86.2. A year earlier, the index stood at 107.6. Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR had predicted the index would inch up to a reading of 86.3.

Rare quadruple kidney swap performed

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Doctors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital said Tuesday that they had successfully completed a rare type of kidney transplant surgery, known as a domino exchange, involving four donors and four recipients, the largest of its kind ever performed in the region. The surgery, which took place Thursday, was triggered by a donor who works at the Northwestern transplant center. His donation led to a series of simultaneous operations for three patients unable to receive organs from family members as well as one woman whose name was on the kidney donation waiting list.

More than 30 doctors, nurses and hospital staffers worked for 12 hours in three operation rooms to complete the procedures, said one of the surgeons.

Fur flies over dog removed from weather reports

Little Jordan, an 8-month-old lab puppy, disappeared last month from weather reports on KVBC-TV, and now there's a dispute over who took the popular dog off the air. His owner and on-air partner, animal-loving KVBC weatherman John Fredericks, issued a statement last week saying it was the NBC affiliate's decision to send L.J., as the pup is known, to the doghouse over a contract dispute.

The dog "was removed from the broadcast ... pending the resolution of contractual terms for L.J.," the statement said. The station's general manager, Lisa Howfield, said last month that L.J.'s disappearance was Fredericks' decision.

Fredericks said he "wants nothing more than for L.J. to return to the broadcast, and believes that the contractual issues resulting in the current situation will soon by resolved."